Sales communication competence in international B2B solution selling

By J. Koponen, S. Julkunen, A. Asai. Industrial Marketing Management, 2019

100 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Increasing demands for international solution selling call for a better understanding of the interpersonal communication competence required of sales professionals. Accordingly, this study investigates discipline-specific needs regarding the interpersonal communication competence required by business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. Empirical data was collected via 39 in-depth interviews from international B2B salespeople, sales managers, CEOs and sales communication educators. As a result, we have formed a new conceptualization of sales communication competence in international B2B solution selling comprising four components: (1) a behavioral communication component, (2) an affective communication component, (3) a cognitive communication component and (4) sales acumen. Managerial implications are presented with recommendations for future research.

Subfields: Communication, Management of Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8fcef0c6f9f2a4705ff991cb305a8280783db2ab